SOUTH FL – Paco Vélez, CEO of Feeding South Florida™, is pleased to announce several recent appointments to the organization’s Board of Directors. All previous Feeding South Florida Board of Directors members, Harris Siskind has been appointed as board chair, Diana Brooks as immediate past board chair, Benny Gonzalez as board treasurer, and Eddie Rivera as board secretary. Michael Block, Carolyn Bolton and Don Hsieh have been newly appointed to the organization’s Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors at Feeding South Florida is a dedicated and passionate group of individuals committed to the mission of ending hunger in South Florida. According to Feeding South Florida’s records, 785,040 individuals in South Florida struggle to put food on the table; 280,630 of those are children and 150,000 are older adults. The food insecurity rate in South Florida is 13.7 percent.

“We are very pleased that Harris, Diana, Benny and Eddie have been appointed as officers of our Board of Directors, and that Michael, Carolyn and Don have joined our Board,” said Vélez. “All of these individuals are highly respected members of the professional and local community, and are truly passionate about ending hunger in South Florida.”

A resident of Miami Beach, Block is the co-founder and CEO of greenmonkey®, a growing company dedicated to teaching and promoting health and well-being. Michael is also a managing partner at Just M Consulting, a firm dedicated to providing expertise and consulting to the toy industry. Prior to founding greenmonkey®, Block spent 20 years in the toy industry. He served as an international executive responsible for growing and managing several businesses at Hasbro®, including a number of emerging markets. Following Hasbro, he joined Toy Plus as a director, leading product development.

Block has held various positions at charitable organizations, working with his family to better the lives ofchildren around the world. In addition to serving on Feeding South Florida’s Board of Directors, he currently serves on the Board of Directors of Voices For Children Foundation, Inc. in Miami-Dade County and is a trustee of the Ellen & Ronald Block Family Foundation based in Palm Beach County. Block holds a Political Science degree from American University in Washington, D.C. 

“I’m very happy to be a part of Feeding South Florida, which is making an immense difference in the lives of many South Florida residents, including nearly 300,000 children,” said Block. “It is crucial that all children and residents get the nourishment they need to stay healthy and active.”

Bolton, a resident of Weston along with her two sons, has lived in South Florida for the past 28 years. She is the director of special projects for Subway at the company’s franchise world headquarters, managing all of Subway’s responsive communications on global social media channels. She has enjoyed a career in franchising, business development/analysis, marketing and social media with Subway world headquarters for the past 23 years, serving in a variety of capacities, working directlywith Subway’s owner and founder. 

Bolton served on an advisory board for five years at Nova Southeastern University for the International Institute for Franchise Education, part of the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship. Previously, she served the non-profit organization H.A.N.D.Y., which led to an appointment as a Guardian ad Litem for Broward County. She served five years as a volunteer Guardian ad Litem for children in protective custody of the State of Florida.

Bolton graduated from The College of New Jersey in Ewing Township, New Jersey with a bachelor’s in Marketing and continued her studies at Florida International University in Miami after moving to South Florida.  

”I am grateful and humbled to help Feeding South Florida by serving on its Board of Directors and applying my skills, energy and commitment to fight hunger in our community,” said Bolton. “Feeding South Florida and its impressive record of growth, along with a passionate team of professionals, is positioned to end hunger in South Florida.”

Hsieh, a resident of Delray Beach, is the director of commercial and industrial marketing at Tyco Integrated Security. He is responsible for developing and driving the go-to-market strategy for a broad spectrum of vertical markets, including food and beverage manufacturing and distribution, restaurants and food service, which make upTyco’s Food Defense initiative, as well as key market segments such as pharmaceuticals, high tech, and service industries. Prior to joining Tyco, Hsieh spent over 20 years in the high tech industry, leading the development of multiple vertical markets and channels of distribution to accelerate growth at top-tier technology firms such as Hewlett-Packard, NCR and Konica Minolta.

Hsieh earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business in Stanford, California and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Whittier College in Whittier, California. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors of Feeding South Florida, he is a Sunday School teacher and on the stewardship committee for First Baptist Church of Delray Beach. He and his wife Mary Ann have three children. In his free time, he enjoys playing tennis.                                                                                          

“Feeding South Florida is making a vital difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals who are facing food insecurity, and I’m pleased to contribute to these efforts with my background in and passion for food defense,” said Hsieh.

About Feeding South Florida™
Feeding South Florida’s mission is to end hunger in South Florida by providing immediate access to nutritious food, leading hunger and poverty advocacy efforts, and transforming lives through innovative programming and education. Feeding South Florida™ is one of 202 member food banks in the Feeding America™ network, the sole Feeding America food bank in South Florida, and the leading domestic hunger-relief organization in the region, serving 30 percent of the state’s food insecure population. Through a local network of approximately 350 nonprofit partner agencies, Feeding South Florida distributes almost 40 million pounds of food annually, serving 785,040 individuals in need of food assistance, 287,650 of whom are children, and 150,000 are older adults, throughout Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties. For more information, visit www.feedingsouthflorida.org or call 954.518.1818.